FIRE gutted the roof of Southend’s New Empire theatre last month. It was not the first time the one-time cinema and music hall had been engulfed by flame.
This 120-year-old photograph from 1895 shows the ruins of the original, Victorian-era Empire theatre after it had been totally destroyed by fire.
The theatre was swiftly rebuilt and opened again the following year.
The former New Empire Theatre on Alexandra Street, Southend, became a towering inferno after a blaze began in the roof and then spread to the rest of the building on Sunday, July 26 this year.
It emerged the blaze had devastated the theatre’s much-admired first floor amphitheatre as the the fire service announced it was arson.
The photo was supplied to Pictures from the Past by local historian Roy Dilley.
Below, picture of the inside of the Empire Theatre after July's fire this year.
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